A Cicero man who was charged last summer with burglarizing garages in Riverside is back in Cook County Jail after allegedly helping burglarize a Brookfield business during the early morning hours of Jan. 14.
According to police, Milo Simmons, 43, was acting as a lookout while 28-year-old Brookfield resident Adam A. Avizius kicked in the glass door of Past Time Hobbies, 9311 Ogden Ave., about 3:45 a.m., went inside and grabbed the cash register from the counter.
The two then reportedly ran across Ogden Avenue, with one of them holding the cash register, to the Colony Motel where Simmons and a 34-year-old Cicero woman had booked a room.
A person who witnessed the break-in called 911 as the burglary was happening, and police soon surrounded the motel and ordered the occupants of Simmons’ room to come out with their hands up.
Avizius and the woman were taken into custody without incident. Simmons reportedly had to be physically restrained by police. While searching the room, police reported finding the cash register hidden in a crawl space above a closet in the bathroom.
Both Avizius and Simmons were identified by a witness as the ones involved in the break-in, said police, who also reportedly obtained video surveillance footage of the incident.
Police reported recovering $71 from the cash register. In addition, police reported discovering $1,500 hidden beneath inserts in Simmons’ gym shoes. Police also seized Avizius’ shoes, because the sole of the right shoe had a piece of glass stuck in it.
The woman taken into custody with the two men had another $855 on her person, said police. She was not charged with a crime.
Both Simmons and Avizius were charged with burglary. Simmons is being held without bond at Cook County Jail. Details about Avizius’ bond were not immediately available.
At the time of his arrest, Simmons was out on bond for garage burglaries he allegedly committed in Riverside last spring and summer. On July 20, Riverside police arrested Simmons after stopping his car and finding stolen goods and burglary tools inside.
Last November, a Cook County judge set Simmons’ bond at $40,000 and two days later, on Nov. 16, Simmons posted bond and was released. Prior to his arrest on Tuesday, Simmons was scheduled to have a court hearing on the Riverside case on Jan. 21.
Simmons, according to Riverside police last summer, has a criminal record dating back to 1990 in both Illinois and Florida. In May 2010, Simmons was arrested in Florida by Manatee County Sheriff’s Police reportedly for heading a burglary ring, where he recruited teenagers to commit burglaries.
The ring reportedly was responsible for about 30 burglaries in Manatee and Sarasota counties. Simmons was charged with burglary, trafficking in stolen goods and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. However, court records show those charges were dropped in June 2010.
